No Winter Uniform For Chilly Policemen in Punjab

The drizzle on Tuesday and Wednesday dropped the temperature down to 16° Celsius, leaving policemen on field duty without appropriate protective wear.

The government of Punjab had recently introduced ‘new’ uniform for the policemen claiming, “[it] has been changed after thorough discussions and with the consent of 72% of field police officers.”

But the problem is that the new jerseys and jackets, to cope with the winter season, are yet to be issued.

The constantly dropping temperature has made several policemen ill – as they were deprived of the winter wear.

The officials dreaded that it would take several weeks to distribute the jerseys among 1.6 million policemen across the 32 districts.

ASI Ashraf said:

The members of the force are feeling less cold with the onset of winter this year as the olive green uniform has a thicker material.Wearing a vest, undershirt and upper helps maintain body temperature. The conditions will no longer be applicable as the temperature further drops down.

Nayab Haider, a spokesperson for Punjab police, told that the uniform delivery process is going on as usual. He said that the jackets will be delivered to the officials in December as promised. “It is a sudden change in weather. Winter has come early and this has created these problems,” he added. The spokesperson’s is rather odd considering that November is half gone and they still think that “winter has come early”.

He further told that the distribution of jackets among the policemen will take no longer than a week.

Tahir Mosab, Additional IG of Welfare and Finance, disclosed that the ‘black’ colored jackets will be delivered to the officials very soon.

Former IGP Punjab, Mushtaq Sukhera, was blamed by some police officials for not considering the clothing for winter season while approving the new uniform.

Sukhera debunked these claims by saying, “the winter clothing was approved and this fact is also documented.” He added that the appropriate vests will be provided for the colder weather and the jerseys will also be distributed to tackle with extreme weather.

Sukhera told the media that they had considered four parameters such as climate, maintenance, comfort and aesthetic value while approving the new uniform.

After the consent of police officers, it was sent to the government for approval. Many forces, including the Pakistan Army and Rangers, have changed their uniforms in the past. What is wrong if the police also do [that]?

Sukhera rejected all the propaganda against the authorities by saying, “the officers who are against change and want to make little effort [are involved in this propaganda.]”